Rangers recap: Angels jump on Gonzalez early to take opener

The Los Angeles Angels jumped on Chi Chi Gonzalez with six runs in the second inning and won the series opener 8-2 behind a solid start by right-hander Garrett Richards.

Pitching: Chi Chi Gonzalez ran into trouble in the second when the first four Angels reach on three singles and a walk. They took a 1-0 lead on C.J. Cron’s bases-loaded single through the left side but Gonzales was able to strike out Carlos Perez and force Johnny Giavotella to pop out to second but the Angels then exploded for six runs as they batted around. Both Erick Aybar and David Freese each had two hits in the inning. The scoring started with Kole Calhoun’s base-clearing double to right-center, which made it 4-0. Anthony Bass replaced Gonzalez and walked his first batter and surrendered singles to the next two. Gonzalez was charged with six runs on five hits and two walks in 1 2/3 innings, the shortest outing of his young career. Los Angeles added runs in the third and fourth innings to lead 8-0. Bass pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on eight hits and two walks and struck out five. Neftali Feliz allowed two hits in the seventh and eighth innings. Ross Detwiler pitched a perfect ninth. Feliz was designated for assignment after the game.

Hitting: The Rangers finally got on the board in the sixth. With two outs, Prince Fielder doubled to the right-center gap and scored on Adrian Beltre’s single up the middle to make it 8-1. Josh Hamilton, who struck out in his first two at-bats, doubled to the right field corner to put runners on second and third for Shin-Soo Choo. Choo grounded out to second to end the inning. Choo doubled in the second inning but was stranded when Elvis Andrus grounded out and Robinson Chirinos flew out to left. Angels right-hander Garrett Richards allowed a run on six hits and a walk in 7 2/3. Richards struck out six. Ryan Rua, who replaced Hamilton in the seventh, homered on the first pitch to start the ninth to make it 8-2.

Notable: Adam Rosales took over for Mitch Moreland at first base in the seventh inning ... the Angels’ Erick Aybar has his first-career five-hit game with an infield single in the eighth ... Fielder collected his major league-leading 35th multi-hit game ... he had two of the Rangers six hits.

This story was originally published July 3, 2015 at 10:12 PM with the headline "Rangers recap: Angels jump on Gonzalez early to take opener."